Henry named Legion Post 140 head coach

GREENVILLE – The Greenville American Legion Post 140 baseball program has named 1996 GHS alum Chad Henry as its new head coach for the 2018 season.

“I’m excited to be involved with the program,” said Henry. “We are going to push to get that 40 game schedule again and bring back that road trip the Legion used to take in the past – kind of back to the glory days when Eric (Blumenstock) and I used to watch that Legion team in town. We wanted to grow up and play legion ball.”

“We really want to bring that back – get to some of the bigger showcases to allow these kids the opportunity to get seen and experience that form of baseball,” added Henry.

Henry is no stranger to Green Wave baseball having played high school ball for Coach Doug Fries before going on to coach the GHS freshman team two years and assisting head varsity coach Ryan Fiely for five seasons racking up a record of 82-57 in his time on the field.

“Legion ball has been a platform since the 1930’s,” stated Henry. “Everybody from Ted Williams to Mike Trout played Legion ball. It’s an excellent opportunity, it’s a chance to take that high school ball and play it a little bit at more of an elite level. It really gives athletes an opportunity to advance their talents.”

Legion Post 140 will be holding two tryouts for the 2018 summer season; Sundays, September 10th and the 17th at 5:00 p.m. at Sater Heights Ballpark located at 1360 Sater Street, Greenville. If unable to attend one of the tryouts and would like an individual tryout, contact Eric Blumenstock at 937-564-8558.

Players born after January 1, 1999 are eligible to participate. Interested applicants need to send an email with your name, date of birth, high school and phone number to: ericblumenstock@rocketmail.com.

“I’m looking for outstanding kids, obviously Legion ball attracts elite talent,” said Henry. “You really want kids that want to be there, they take responsibility for their actions and are dedicated to their craft. It’s those types of people you want to bring in, the ones that coaches tell you, ‘take my kid – this is the kid that you want’. That’s the kind of kid you really want to build your team with.”

Post 140 covers all of Darke County and portions of surrounding counties.

“Anyone that is obviously closer to our Legion than another is in our jurisdiction,” explained Henry. “To extend beyond that we have to permission from those Legions to bring in those kids.”